We analysed the XMM-Newton archival observations of 16 neutron star
(NS), low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) to study the Fe K emission in these objects. The
sample includes all the observations of NS LMXBs performed in EPIC pn timing mode with
XMM-Newton publicly available until September 30, 2009. We performed a
detailed data analysis considering pile-up and background effects. The properties of the
Fe lines differed from previous published analyses because of either incorrect pile-up
corrections or different continuum parameterisation. Eighty percent of the observations
for which a spectrum can be extracted showed significant Fe line emission. We found an
average line centroid of 6.67 ± 0.02 keV and a finite width, σ, of
0.33 ± 0.02 keV. The equivalent width of the lines varied between 17 and 189 eV, with an
average weighted value of 42 ± 3 eV. For sources where several observations were
available, the Fe line parameters changed between observations whenever the continuum
changed significantly. The line parameters did not show any correlation with luminosity.
Most important, we could fit the Fe line with a simple Gaussian component for all the
sources. The lines did not show the asymmetric profiles that were interpreted as
indicating relativistic effects in previous analyses of these LMXBs.

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